Fiber-cleaning device.



} vE. 0. WORRICK. HBER CLEANING DEVICE. APPLICATIQN FILED FEB. 9, 1 911- Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

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ELM-ER 0. WORRICK, 0F DAET, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

. FIBER-CLEANING DEVICE.

Specification of batters Patent.

Patented Aug.6,1918.

' Application filed February 9, 1917. Serial no. 147,638. I

To'all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,'ELMER O. WoRRIoK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Daet, in the Province of Ambos" Camarines, Philippine Islands, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fiber- Cleaning Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improved fiber cleaning device and more particularly to a device for cleaning the fiber of the abaca plant from which is made what is commercially known asManila hemp, and has for one of its objects the production of a cheap and simple hand operated device or apparatus for use upon small plantations that are not of suflicient size and productiveness to justify a more complicated and expensive machine, and which deviceis capable" of being operated by one person though not limited to this exact number of operators.

- A further aim of my invention is to provide a device with-a decorticating tool and a co-acting operatingblock supported in a manner to automatically adjust'itself so that the decorticating tool will engage the upper surface of the operating block evenly throughout its length, and at the same time to provide novel means for mounting the operating block upon its support whereby the operating block may be readily removed when unfit for use and a new operatlng block substituted therefor with equal degree of readiness, and to also provide means for operating the tool.

A further aim is to provide a compartment in the base frame of the-device in which -to pivotally mount the support for the operatin block and to provide the com partment w1th means for drainlng therefrom any water ormoisture that may collect'therein and thereby cause the wooden partsto swell and destroy the eflicient operation'of the operating block and its supp These and other objects will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is more clearly understood from the followlng specification, the subjectmatter of the claims,

and the views illustrated in the accompany- Fi'gure l'is a side view of the complete device. 7 a

2 is *a vertical transverse sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow. i Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the operating block, its supporting block, and the bracket for removably securing the operatingiblock uponits supporting block.

eferring to the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, my invention consists of the base member 1,

having secured substantially vcentrally at 1 each side thereof by the screws'2, or other suitable securing means, the supporting posts 3, and also secured upon the sides of the base'member 1 by the screws 4, or other suitable securing means, are the guide posts 5 positionedpreferably at a point remote from the rear end of the base member 1.

Formed in the upper portion of the base member 1 forwardly of the supporting posts 3 is the cut away portion 6, preferably of semi-octagonal shape in its longitudinal direction and having'extending from its bottom wall downwardly through the remaining portion of the base member 1 the drain port 7. Secured upon each side of the base member 1 by the screws 8, or other suitable securing means, and covering the cut away portion6 are the side'covers or plates 9.

The cut away'portion 6 in the base member 1 together with the side covers or plates 9 form a compartment in which compartment is pivotally mounted and adapted to swing the supporting block'lO. The supporting block 10 is'provided with the transverse opening 11, through which passes the pivot pin 12, having its ends mounted in the openings 13 formed in the upper portions of the side covers or plates 9. The supporting block 10 is also formed preferably of substantially semi-octagonal shape its longitudinal directionasimilar to the compartment 6, and is of lesslength and less depth'than the compartment 6 to allow free swinging movement of the block 10 therein, but the block 10 is of a width slightly less than the width of the compartment 6'sothat the supporting block 10 is capable of swingingmovementbetween the covers or plates 9 without frictional engagement with the inner. walls of the covers or qplates9.

Secured upon the upper face of the supporting block 10 by the screws 14, or other suitable securing means, is a securing bracket. This securing bracket consists of the base plate 15 provided at one side edge with the upstanding integral apertured flange 16, through which apertured flange pass the securing bolts17 havingtheir op-' posite ends projecting through the apertured removable securing plate18'adjacent the opposite edge of the base plate 15. Secured upon the base plate 15 of the bracket and its flange 16and securing plate 18 and clamped therebetween by the bolts 17 is the operating or head block 19 provided with the upper beveled operating face 20, the operating block 19 having the securing bolts 17 passing through transverse apertures formed in the lower portion of the operating block 19.

Pivotally mounted in the upper portions of the supporting posts 3 and upon the pivot bolt 21 projecting therethrough is a tool carrying operating bar 22. The bar 22 has its forwardend portion operating between the supporting posts or standards 3 and upon the pivot bolt 21 while its rearwardly extending end portion projects between and is guided by the guide posts 5. In the forward endportion of the bar 22 is secured by the pivot bolt 21 and the pin 23 the shank 2a of the decorticating tool 25 provided with the beveled edge 26 to provide the tool 25 with a sharp knife like edge.

For normally maintaining the toolv25 in operative engagement with the beveled face 20 of the operating block 19 is provided the compression spring 27 having its upper end operatively engaging the under side of the tool bar 22 at a point adjacent its rear end with the opposite end of the spring 27 seated in the socket 28 formed in the upper edge of the base member 1 adjacent the rear end thereof.

For operating the tool bar 22 downwardly against the compression spring 27 for elevating the tool 25 above the operating block 19 the link 29 is'provided, having its upper end pivotally connected to the tool bar 22 by the pin 30, or other suitable securing means, and its lower end pivotally connected through the medium of the pin '31,

or other suitable securing means, to the pedal lever 32 having its rear end pivotally connected to the base member 1 through the medium of the pivot pin 33, or other suitable pivotal connection. Secured upon the forward end of .the pedal lever 32 by the screws 34, or other suitable securing means, is the pedal block 35.

The operation of the device is briefly described as follows :The operator stands at the right hand side of the device and after taking hold of one end of a stalk of the abaca plant presses the pedal block35 down- Wardly thereby exerting a downward pull upon the tool bar 22 through the medium of the connecting link 29 and against the force of the compression, spring 27 which movement of the tool bar 22 elevates the decorticating'tool'25 a sufiicient distance above the cooperating block 19 to enable the operator to place a stalk of the plant, adjacei'iti the end which he has grasped upon the beveled operating face20 of the block 19 and thereafter by removing his foot from the pedal block 35 the compression spring 27 forc'es therear end of the'tool bar 22 upwardly and the edge 26 offthe tool' '25engage s the stalk,

and at this juncture the operatornow draws the operation o f the device: it is a) be under stood that a greater number ofstalks may be drawn 'throughthe device at the same time as the operator may h ol d one ormore stalks in eachhand or may providesome clamping means for holdlng the ends of a large number of stalks.

While 1 preferably form all of,the parts 7 of the device, excepting the tool 25-Which is preferably formed ,of tool steel, the parts of the bracketand its bolts which are preferably of bronze, and the spring, whichis of steel, ofhard wood, especially the cooperating block 191and which block is so formed and disposed that the grain thereof extends vertically so that the tool 25 will ccractwith the ends of the grain of' the block 19, however, I do not desire to' belimited to these exact materials as any for n of ,materialor materials may be employed.v

From the foregoing itiwill besecn that I have produced a simple, cheap and ,eflicient fiber stripping device embodyingnovel fea' tures of construction and ac lvantages, a par ticular novel feature residing in the manner of mounting the cooperatingblock 19 so that its. perating face 20 will be automatically brought into parallelism with the operating portion of the decorticating tool 25' thereby adding to the efficiency of the operation of the device. f T e I desire it to be also understood, that I am not limited to -the use ofjthe specific form of tool shown in the drawings as this tool,.being removably secured ,in the end of the toolbar 22, may be removedand-substituted by a tool of difierent construction.

Having described my'inventiion, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l '1 V 1. The combination of a decorticating tool, and a head bloc-k cooperating with said tool; with means to causesaid head blockito swing to aline itself with/said $001.,

a 2. The combination of a decor-ticating tooh,

and a head block cooperating therewith; with means to provide for the automatic swinging of said head block to aline said block with said tool.

3. The combination of a decorticating tool, and a head block cooperating with said tool; with means for pivotally supporting said head block whereby to cause the automatic swinging adjustment of said block relative to said tool.

4. In a device of the character specified, the combination of a decorticating tool, and means for actuating said tool; with a lonlgitudinally swinging head block for cooperating with said tool evenly throughout its length.

5. In a device of the character specified, the combination of a decorticating tool, means for actuating said tool, and a head block cooperating with said tool; with means for pivotally supporting said head block cen trally and transversely of its longitudinal direction for causing said head block to automatically swing to adjust itself when engaged by said tool whereby to cause contact between said tool and said head block evenly throughout their lengths.

6. In a device of the character specified, the combination. of a decorticating tool, means for actuating said tool, a head block cooperating with said tool, a support for said head block pivotally supported centrally and transversely of its longitudinal direction to provide for the automatic swinging of said head block relative to said tool, and a bracket upon said support for detachably securing said head block thereon.

7. In a device of the character specified, the combination with a base member, a tool operatively mounted upon said base member, means for actuating said tool, a compartment formed in said base member beneath said tool, cover plates for said compartment, a supporting block swingingly mounted upon said cover plates and within said compartment, an elongated channeled bracket secured upon said supporting block,and a head block removably secured in said bracket and cooperating with said tool, whereby to provide for the automatic swinging of said head block to coact with the entire operating surface of said tool.

8. In a device of the character specified,

the combination with an elongated horizontally disposed base member, a compartment in proximity to one end of said base member, a head block swingingly mounted in said compartment and in the longitudinal direction of said base member, a pair of spaced supporting posts upon said base member at one side of said block, a bar pivotally mounted upon and between said supporting posts in proximity to one ofits ends, a tool secured in this end of said bar for cooperating with said head block, an expansion spring interposed between said base member and the free end of said bar at the end of said base member remote from said compartment for normally holding said tool in 0perative position with respect to said head block, a foot lever having one end pivotally mounted upon a side of said base member, and a connection between said foot lever and said bar at a point between the pivotal point of said bar and said expansion spring, whereby upon the downward pressure of said foot lever the free end of said bar will be forced downwardly against said expansion spring for elevating said tool above said head block.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELMER O. WORRICK.

Witnesses MARIANO Comm, N. E. DoHER'rY.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0." 

